Sr. Professional, Scrum Master I

Position Summary

The Sr. Professional, Scrum Master I is responsible for leading Agile delivery practices across one or more Agile teams while partnering closely with Product Owners, Technology Leads, Engineering Managers, and business stakeholders. This role serves as a servant leader, Agile coach, and delivery facilitator, ensuring teams consistently deliver business value through Lean-Agile principles and high-performing execution practices.

The Scrum Master drives Agile ceremonies, PI planning activities, release coordination, risk management, team performance optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives. The role is expected to promote transparency, accountability, predictable delivery, and alignment with organizational objectives while fostering a culture of collaboration, ownership, and innovation.

Responsibilities

Agile Leadership & Facilitation

• Facilitate all Agile ceremonies, including Daily Standups, Sprint Planning, Backlog Refinement, Reviews, Retrospectives, and PI Planning activities.
• Coach teams on Agile values, Scrum principles, SAFe practices, and continuous improvement techniques.
• Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Guide teams in story refinement, estimation, dependency management, and sprint execution.

Delivery & Execution Excellence

• Track sprint, release, and PI objectives to ensure predictable delivery and alignment with business priorities.
• Monitor team capacity, velocity, cycle time, and delivery metrics to identify improvement opportunities.
• Drive proactive identification, escalation, and resolution of risks, issues, blockers, and dependencies.
• Support teams in maintaining healthy backlogs and ensuring work meets Definition of Ready and Definition of Done standards.
• Partner with Product Owners and Technology Leads to ensure priorities are clearly understood and execution remains aligned with roadmap commitments.

Program Increment Planning & Governance

• Support PI Planning preparation, execution, and follow-through activities.
• Track PI objectives, dependencies, risks, and cross-team commitments.
• Ensure Agile tools and governance processes are consistently followed.
• Maintain accurate reporting and visibility through Jira, Confluence, dashboards, and other delivery management tools.
• Provide leadership with clear status reporting, delivery forecasts, and escalation insights.

Release & Change Management

• Coordinate release activities across teams and stakeholders.
• Partner with Release Management and Engineering teams to support production deployments and change approvals.
• Ensure readiness activities, communications, and deployment plans are completed prior to releases.
• Facilitate post-release reviews and lessons learned activities.

Continuous Improvement & Agile Coaching

• Use metrics and team feedback to drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Help teams identify process inefficiencies and implement corrective actions.
• Mentor team members on Agile best practices and foster team maturity.
• Promote data-driven decision making through delivery metrics, dashboards, and actionable insights.
• Influence adoption of Lean-Agile practices across the broader organization.

Stakeholder & Communication Management

• Act as a liaison between business, product, and technology stakeholders.
• Ensure transparency on delivery progress, risks, dependencies, and commitments.
• Facilitate discussions that drive consensus and informed decision making.
• Communicate complex delivery challenges clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience in Agile software delivery, project delivery, or Scrum Master roles.
• 4+ years serving as a Scrum Master supporting Agile teams.
• Experience facilitating Agile ceremonies in Scrum and/or SAFe environments.
• Hands-on experience with Jira, Confluence, and Agile reporting tools.
• Strong understanding of Agile metrics, forecasting, and delivery management.
• Experience managing risks, dependencies, and stakeholder communications in complex environments.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM I or PSM II), SAFe Scrum Master, SAFe Agilist, or equivalent Agile certification.
• Experience supporting Program Increment (PI) Planning and SAFe delivery practices.
• Experience working with distributed teams, vendor partners, and cross-functional organizations.
• Financial services, wealth management, or regulated industry experience.
• Experience supporting cloud, digital transformation, or enterprise modernization initiatives.

Core Competencies

• Agile Leadership
• Servant Leadership
• Team Coaching & Mentoring
• PI Planning & Execution
• Delivery Management
• Risk & Dependency Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Continuous Improvement
• Metrics & Reporting
• Release Coordination
• Conflict Resolution
• Communication & Influence
• Jira & Confluence Expertise
• Lean-Agile Mindset